Sunday morning May 29

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lipsand our mouth will proclaim your praise.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, creator of all,to you be glory and praise forever.You founded the earth in the beginningand the heavens are the work of your hands.In the fullness of time you made us in your image,and in these last days you have spoken to usin your Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.As we rejoice in the gift of your presence among uslet the light of your love always shine in our hearts,your Spirit ever renew our livesand your praises ever be on our lips.Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Blessed be God forever.

Hymn

Come, Holy Ghost, All Quickening Fire

Charles Wesley

Come, Holy Ghost, all quickening fire!My consecrated heart inspire,Sprinkled with the atoning blood;Still to my soul thyself reveal,Thy mighty working may I feel,And know that I am one with God.

Thy witness with my spirit bear,That God, my God, inhabits there;Thou, with the Father, and the Son,Eternal light’s coeval beam;Be Christ in me, and I in him,Till perfect we are made in one.

Let earth no more my heart divide,With Christ may I be crucified,To thee with my whole soul aspire;Dead to the world and all its toys,Its idle pomp, and fading joys,Be Thou alone my one desire!

My will be swallowed up in thee;Light in thy light still may I see,Beholding thee with open face;Called the full power of faith to prove,Let all my hallowed heart be love,And all my spotless life be praise.

Confession of sin

Seek the Lord when he can still be found;call him while he is yet near.Let the wicked abandon their waysand the sinful their schemes.Let them return to the Lord so that he may have mercy on them,to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.

cf Isaiah 55

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

Lord God,we have sinned against you;we have committed evil in your sight.We are sorry and repent.Have mercy on us according to your faithful love.Wash us completely clean of our guilt; purify us from our sin.Put a new, faithful spirit deep inside us,and return the joy of your salvation to usthrough Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.

cf Psalm 51

May the Father of all merciescleanse us from our sins,and restore us in his imageto the praise and glory of his name,through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.

Bless the Lord,because he has listened to our request for mercy.Therefore our hearts will rejoiceand we will thank him with our song.

cf Psalm 28:7,9

The Word of God

Psalm 41

Refrain: Lord, have mercy on me!

Those who pay close attention to the poor are truly happy! The Lord rescues them during troubling times.The Lord protects them and keeps them alive; they are widely regarded throughout the land as happy people. You won’t hand them over to the will of their enemies.The Lord will strengthen them when they are lying in bed, sick. You will completely transform the place where they lie ill.But me? I said, “Lord, have mercy on me! Heal me because I have sinned against you.”My enemies speak maliciously about me: “When will he die and his name disappear?”Whenever they come to visit, they say nothing of value. Their hearts collect evil gossip; once they leave, they tell it to everybody.All of those who hate me talk about me, whispering to each other, plotting evil against me:“Some horrible thing has been poured into him; the next time he lies down, he won’t get up.”Even my good friend, the one I trusted, who shared my food, has kicked me with his heel—a betrayer!But you, Lord, please have mercy on me and lift me up so I can pay them back!Then I’ll know you are pleased with me because my enemy won’t be shouting in triumph over me.You support me in my integrity; you put me in your presence forever.Bless the Lord, the God of Israel, from forever to forever! Amen and Amen!

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain: Lord, have mercy on me!

Psalm prayer

God our deliverer,raise up the poor and comfort the betrayed,through the one who for our sakes became poorand whose betrayal brought our salvation,Jesus Christ our Lord.

Old Testament readingDeuteronomy 5:1-21

Moses called out to all Israel, saying to them: “Israel! Listen to the regulations and the case laws that I’m recounting in your hearing right now. Learn them and carefully do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Horeb. The Lord didn’t make this covenant with our ancestors but with us—all of us who are here and alive right now. The Lord spoke with you face-to-face on the mountain from the very fire itself. At that time, I was standing between the Lord and you, declaring to you the Lord’s word, because you were terrified of the fire and didn’t go up on the mountain.”

The Lord said:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.You must have no other gods before me. Do not make an idol for yourself—no form whatsoever—of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow down to them or worship them because I, the Lord your God, am a passionate God. I punish children for their parents’ sins—even to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. But I am loyal and gracious to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.Do not use the Lord your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the Lord won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way.Keep the Sabbath day and treat it as holy, exactly as the Lord your God commanded: Six days you may work and do all your tasks, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Don’t do any work on it—not you, your sons or daughters, your male or female servants, your oxen or donkeys or any of your animals, or the immigrant who is living among you—so that your male and female servants can rest just like you. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That’s why the Lord your God commands you to keep the Sabbath day.Honor your father and your mother, exactly as the Lord your God requires, so that your life will be long and so that things will go well for you on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you.Do not kill.Do not commit adultery.Do not steal.Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s wife.Do not crave your neighbor’s house, field, male or female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament readingActs 21:17-39

When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.

On the next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James. All of the elders were present. After greeting them, he gave them a detailed report of what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. Those who heard this praised God. Then they said to him, “Brother, you see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and all of them keep the Law passionately. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to reject Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to live according to our customs. What about this? Without a doubt, they will hear that you have arrived. You must therefore do what we tell you. Four men among us have made a solemn promise. Take them with you, go through the purification ritual with them, and pay the cost of having their heads shaved. Everyone will know there is nothing to those reports about you but that you too live a life in keeping with the Law. As for the Gentile believers, we wrote a letter about what we decided, that they avoid food offered to idols, blood, the meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality.” The following day Paul took the men with him and went through the purification ritual with them. He entered the temple and publicly announced the completion of the days of purification, when the offering would be presented for each one of them.

When the seven days of purification were almost over, the Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the temple. Grabbing him, they threw the whole crowd into confusion by shouting, “Fellow Israelites! Help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, the Law, and this place. Not only that, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” (They said this because they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him earlier, and they assumed Paul had brought him into the temple.) The entire city was stirred up. The people came rushing, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple. Immediately the gates were closed. While they were trying to kill him, a report reached the commander of a company of soldiers that all Jerusalem was in a state of confusion. Without a moment’s hesitation, he took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the mob. When the mob saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. When the commander arrived, he arrested Paul and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Only then did he begin to ask who Paul was and what he had done.

Some in the crowd shouted one thing, others shouted something else. Because of the commotion, he couldn’t learn the truth, so he ordered that Paul be taken to the military headquarters. When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers in order to protect him from the violence of the crowd. The mob that followed kept screaming, “Away with him!”

As Paul was about to be taken into the military headquarters, he asked the commander, “May I speak with you?”

He answered, “Do you know Greek? Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists into the desert some time ago?”

Paul replied, “I’m a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please, let me speak to the people.”

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticleThe Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain:You have raised up a mighty savior for us in your servant David’s house.

Bless the Lord God of Israelbecause he has come to help and has delivered his people.He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.He has brought salvation from our enemiesand from the power of all those who hate us.He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,and remembered his holy covenant,the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.He has granted that we would be rescuedfrom the power of our enemiesso that we could serve him without fear,in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,for as long as we live.You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.You will tell his people how to be savedthrough the forgiveness of their sins.Because of our God’s deep compassion,the dawn from heaven will break upon us,to give light to those who are sitting in darknessand in the shadow of death,to guide us on the path of peace.”

Luke 1:68-79

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:You have raised up a mighty savior for us in your servant David’s house.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers are offeredfor the day and its tasksfor the world and its needsfor the Church and her life

Response

Father, hear our prayer,through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you,mercifully accept our prayersand, because through the weakness of our mortal naturewe can do no good thing without you,grant us the help of your grace,that in the keeping of your commandmentswe may please you both in will and deed;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and forever.Amen.

Conclusion

The Lord bless us, and preserve us from all evil, and keep us in eternal life.Amen.